Nelson W. Aldrich, in full Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (born Nov. 6, 1841, Foster, R.I., U.S.—died April 16, 1915, New York City) U.S. senator and financier whose work on the Aldrich-Vreeland Currency Act of 1908 and chairmanship of the National Monetary Commission (1908–12) helped prepare the way for the Federal Reserve Act of 1913.

Nelson Aldrich, 1902

Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Aldrich rose from the Providence Common Council through the Rhode Islandlegislature to the U.S. Congress (representative 1879–81; senator 1881–1911). Meanwhile, he amassed a modest fortune through investments in banking, electricity, gas, rubber, and sugar.

In Congress, Aldrich was principally associated with the defense of the protective tariff and the gold standard, and opposition to any meaningful regulation of business. He emerged as the leader of the small coterie of Senate Republicans who dominated the party caucus and therefore determined the action of the Senate on most issues between 1895 and 1910. Through his influence the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 were modified in a conservative direction.

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During Nelson W. Aldrich’s tenure in the U.S. Senate (1881–1911), Rhode Island had more influence in the Senate than at any other time. As well as serving on the Senate Finance Committee and as chairman of the National Monetary Commission, Aldrich was well connected personally and in business. He wielded substantial power in the government, for which he was dubbed the “General...